IRVINE, Calif., Oct 18, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) — BlizzCon(R) 2010, Blizzard Entertainment’s two-day gaming festival celebrating the Warcraft(R), StarCraft(R), and Diablo(R) game universes and their global player communities, begins on Friday, October 22, at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. Attendees of the sold-out show will be able to play the latest versions of Blizzard Entertainment(R) games as well as speak with developers in discussion panels, witness live top-tier tournament competition, participate in a wide range of activities, and meet with fellow gamers and friends.

Jay Mohr has returned to act as master of ceremonies for the community contests taking place on Friday, including the popular dance and costume competitions, and the show will close on Saturday evening with an epic concert featuring the duo that has been hailed by its own members as the greatest band in the world, Tenacious D — otherwise known as Jack Black and Kyle Gass. The band will be performing an earth-shattering set at BlizzCon that includes the debut of new, soon-to-be-legendary songs.

Anyone unable to attend BlizzCon can still purchase a BlizzCon Virtual Ticket, featuring more than 50 hours of live HD coverage as well as the exclusive BlizzCon 2010 World of Warcraft(R) in-game pet and StarCraft II in-game items. This package is available globally via Internet stream and also through DIRECTV(R) satellite television service in the United States (free Internet stream included with DIRECTV Pay Per View event purchases). Limited streaming coverage of the BlizzCon opening ceremony and certain BlizzCon tournaments will be available via the Internet for free. Visit the official BlizzCon website, www.blizzcon.com, for more information.

“We look forward to providing a truly entertaining and informative convention experience to all attendees, as well as those joining us remotely from around the world,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “BlizzCon offers a great opportunity for us to meet our players and share the latest news about Blizzard games with them, and with the help of Tenacious D, we’re sure this year’s show will be one the audience will never forget.”

BlizzCon would not be possible without the enthusiasm of Blizzard Entertainment gamers around the world and the generous support of the event’s sponsors, who provide demo-station hardware, peripherals, and more. This year’s platinum-level sponsors are ASUS, DIRECTV, Intel, and NVIDIA; the gold-level sponsors are Antec, Razer, Western Digital, SteelSeries, and Vasco.

Anyone attending BlizzCon who is interested in pursuing career opportunities at Blizzard Entertainment should bring their resumes, demo reels, art portfolios, or business cards, as the global staffing team will be on hand to accept materials and discuss any job-related questions.